nakst

This is one of the best free synthesizers that I've tinkered around with. I'd say it's mostly ideal for tracks in the trance umbrella, because of the factory preset library (one of the best I've heard, including commercial synthesizers) and the unison per main oscillators being modeled off of the JP8000 supersaw.

The workflow of this synth is also really intuitive, everything is clearly laid out and quality patches can be dialed in with minimal effort. This includes the effects section, where adequate modulation and spatialisation can be done with little tweaking. This also applies to the arpeggiator / sequencer, where even if they're a little basic, great results can be made from them. Really nice for the price of nothing.

Extremely powerful and easy to work with. Loads of modulation, as well as a very clean and well made UI.

Very clean, eyes friendly UI and UX result in pleasure playing with... well, with that magic called sound, making it even more magic.

Great user guide. If something still is not understood, nakst is very friendly and open to help with discord server.

Manjaro Linux and REAPER are in use.

So much fun to play with. Easy to understand for a relative noob like me. It just works, out of the box. Usually i run it in reaper but it also runs fine in carla under Idaeil.

For those of you who wish to use this synth in a host that doesn't support CLAP on Windows, visit here for a guide: fdigl.github.io/building-clap-wrapper/

This synth has hands down replaced every single workhorse subtractive synth in my workflow.

To preface this, I am a sound designer of well over a decade and a half's worth of experience and have beta tested this software for a good while before its release. I've used pretty much every subtractive synth under the sun that you've seen make rounds: be it Sylenth1, Spire, Rapid, or even the various models of the Virus. Every synth has its own character, and Altitude is most definitely no exception.

With different detune models, several samples to choose from, the ability to add your own samples, an absurd amount of modulation, some VERY delectable effects, and an intuitive skinnable UI with a UX that flows like a river, this synth has been the first tool I reach for in my sound design toolkit. Rumbling reese basses, gritty dubstep growls, plucks with envelopes of any shape or size, trance leads that send you straight to euphoria, galactically huge pads, and hardstyle screeches so sharp you don't even need to mix them, Altitude has pretty much every ground you need covered.

Sound
Unison in different tastes, oscillators in different flavors, effects that are out-of-the-box usable, and modulation that's easily musical. There's nothing not to like here. With the ability to add multiple filters in the effects stage and route them pretty much in any way you need them to, you could practically pre-mix your patches before it even hits the mixer effects. Not to mention all the in-oscillator modulation you could have, which could turn Altitude into an 8-operator FM synth with ease.

Interface
Everything is laid out in an intuitive way. Navigation is not complicated at all. Some may not like that there are tabs and pages, but nakst has done his best to ensure that there is as much you need visible as possible on each page. You won't get lost if you take a quick glance at where everything is at. Modulation is always at the bottom. The stock skins are clean, elegant, readable, and have good contrast. The fact that you can add your own skins to your taste is a big plus. I'm looking forward to seeing what the community comes up with.

Modulation
There is an absolutely insane amount of modulation you can have going on in Altitude. The question is not what can you modulate, but rather what can't you modulate? You can use modulators to modulate other modulators and their modulation amounts. Altitude takes this to a whole new level with the Math modulators. This is one of the biggest highlights of the synth. It's very intuitive to modulate: just click a modulation slot, then click its destination in the synth's UI. Simple as that.

Performance
Altitude generally performs better than Serum, Spire, Vital, and Rapid from my experience. It's on par or better than Sylenth1 and Viper, especially on the heavier patches. It has a much better rendering time than the others mentioned as well. Due to its complexity, it does perform worse than Apricot (the little brother to Altitude) and Synth1 from my testing. I'm very pleased with how it performs.

Content
Altitude comes with a very generous bank of samples and patches. I won't comment on my own patches I made during beta for the factory bank, but the others have done a spectacular job showcasing what they can do with the synth. Pretty much any patch is usable in a track. Many of the samples used for the sample oscillators could be patches of their own, which gets you some pretty awesome results when you stack them up or modulate them.

Overall, if you're looking for a subtractive synth that will get you the best bang for your buck, then Altitude is a very strong contender. It's intuitive enough to teach synthesis on, yet complex enough to keep you coming back as a seasoned sound design veteran. Although it is a new synth and there aren't countless and countless of preset banks available quite yet, I have a feeling that we're not very far off from a lot of content being made for this. With the amount of depth that Altitude has, I'm sure that the presets will be far from the typical ones you see being remade and resold over and over again. I'll continue releasing patches for this beast, and I encourage everyone to get creative.

Happy synthesizing.

Here's a YouTube playlist full of some of my Altitude showcases: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQpM3AzNXx561nOxtvgKHX90Fu4HEm2iM

Very impressive synth, Great arp/gate. Really fat meaty synth, two thumbs up. Great sounding effects, easy layout !.

The perfect combination of sound sources with ability to modulate. The only problem is the Mod envelopes do not have a visual representation of the ADSR. I had to do some hunting for the right spot to make adjustments.

Well, this is my favorite go-to hybrid subtractive synthesizer. It has a powerfully flexible arpeggiator-sequencer on the effects page of Apricot, and it is freeware. I sometimes and always use this free FL plugin for my Sparta Bases. Thanks a lot, nakst.